News
Black gay lawmakers lead call to require insurers to cover injectable PrEP
Apretude approved by FDA in December

A pair of the openly gay Black members are leading a group of 58 House Democrats in calling on the Biden administration to require medical insurers to cover PrEP in its recently FDA-approved form as an injectable HIV preventative drug.
In a letter dated Feb. 4 and made public on Thursday, Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) lead colleagues in urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid and the Centers for Disease Control to issue the new requirements for Apretude, which the Food & Drug Administration approved for use in December.
“To ensure that this life-saving medication is as accessible as possible to the people who need it most, particularly LGBTQ+ people and people of color, we urge you to ensure that public and private insurance plans cover Apretude at no cost to patients — just like the other forms of PrEP,” the letter says.
While PrEP has emerged in recent years as an HIV prevention treatment in the form of a daily pill, commonly Truvada, the injectable drug offers patients as potential alternative or those who may experience pill fatigue with a shot expected to be taken one month apart, and then every two months thereafter, according to the FDA. ViiV is the manufacturer of Apretude and expects to start shipping it to wholesalers and distributors early this year, according to the company website.
If the U.S. government were to issue rules requiring insurers to cover injectable PrEP, it would follow-up on earlier actions to make HIV prevention drugs more widely available. The CDC under the Trump administration made free PrEP available to those without insurance coverage, while the Biden administration issued requirements to make insurers include PrEP as part of their coverage.
According to a statement accompanying the letter, however, significant racial disparities remain in PrEP use: “While the HIV infection rate among Black Americans is eight times as high as among white Americans, just nine percent of the Black Americans for whom PrEP is recommended have been prescribed the medication, compared to 66 percent of their white counterparts. Similarly, while the HIV infection rate among Hispanic Americans is four times as high as among white Americans, only 16 percent of recommended Hispanic Americans have been prescribed PrEP.”
The Washington Blade has placed a request in with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid and the Centers for Disease Control seeking comment on the letter.
The Vatican
Executive director of LGBTQ Catholic group to travel to Rome for conclave
Marianne Duddy-Burke met Pope Francis in 2023

The executive director of a group that represents LGBTQ Catholics will travel to Rome next week for the papal conclave that starts on May 7.
DignityUSA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke on Thursday told the Washington Blade she will arrive in Rome on May 6. Duddy-Burke said she plans to spend time in St. Peter’s Square “and have conversations with people.”
“I will wear Dignity insignia, have rainbow flags,” she said.
Pope Francis died on April 21. His funeral took place five days later.
The Vatican’s tone on LGBTQ and intersex issues softened under the Argentine-born pope’s papacy, even though church teachings on homosexuality did not change.
Francis, among other things, described laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations as “unjust” and supported civil unions for gays and lesbians. Transgender people were among those who greeted Francis’s coffin at Rome’s St. Mary Major Basilica before his burial on April 26.
Duddy-Burke and two others from the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics met with Francis in October 2023 during a meeting that focused on the Catholic Church’s future. Duddy-Burke noted Francis “invited” her and her colleagues as his “special guests for the audience and then had a conversation with him afterwards.”
“For me the sort of visibility that he (Francis) brought to our community and to our concerns feels irreversible,” said Duddy-Burke. “He empowered so many people and so many new ministries.”
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu — the archbishop of Kinshasa in Congo who has described homosexuality as an “abomination” — is among the cardinals who are reportedly in the running to succeed Francis.
“I really don’t know,” said Duddy-Burke when the Blade asked her who the next pope will be. “Of course, I am hoping and praying hard that it will be someone who will continue to lead the church on responsiveness of human need and greater inclusivity.”
“What happens in that room is such a mystery,” she added.
World Pride 2025
Episcopal bishop to speak at WorldPride human rights conference
Trump demanded apology from Mariann Edgar Budde over post-Inauguration sermon

The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is among those who are scheduled to speak at the WorldPride 2025 Human Rights Conference that will take place from June 4-6.
Budde, who is the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, in January urged President Donald Trump “to have mercy” on LGBTQ people, immigrants, and others “who are scared right now” during a post-Inauguration service that he and Vice President JD Vance attended at the Washington National Cathedral. Trump criticized Budde’s comments and demanded an apology.
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde speaks at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2025. (PBS NewsHour clip)
A press release the Washington Blade received notes Icelandic Industries Minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, UK Black Pride founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, and Bob the Drag Queen are among those who are also expected to participate in the conference.
The conference will take place at the JW Marriott (1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) and registration is open here.
World Pride 2025
Pabllo Vittar to perform at WorldPride
Brazilian drag queen, singer, joined Madonna on stage in 2024 Rio concert

A Brazilian drag queen and singer who performed with Madonna at her 2024 concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach will perform at WorldPride.
The Capital Pride Alliance on Thursday announced Pabllo Vittar will perform on the Main Stage of the main party that will take place on June 7 at DCBX (1235 W St., N.E.) in Northeast D.C.
Vittar and Anitta, a Brazilian pop star who is bisexual, on May 4, 2024, joined Madonna on stage at her free concert, which was the last one of her Celebration Tour. Authorities estimated 1.6 million people attended.
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